Paul Brassey, 26, came up with the idea for The Colour of Money, hosted by Chris Tarrant, while sat at home watching a television drama.

The show - dubbed the ‘most stressful show on television’ attracted 4m viewers when it launched last weekend.

Contestants can scoop ‘life-changing’ sums of money if they can match a financial target as cash machines dispense unknown prizes of between £1,000 and £20,000.

The ATMs count up in units of £1,000 and the risk lies in knowing when to stop. If you halt the cash machine too soon, you won’t reach the target but get greedy and the machine will run out of money.

Paul, a former pupil at Larkfield Primary and Ainsdale High, was employed by London-based 12 Yard Productions to think up ideas for game shows and pitch them to TV companies.

His flash of inspiration came when sat at home watching BBC political thriller The State Within in late 2006.

Paul said: “The final scene was basically a stand-off between three politicians, and one of the characters said something like: “There are three of us in this room - let’s see who blinks first.”

“I found that sort of high-stakes brinksmanship, where victory goes to the person who holds their nerve the longest, really interesting, so I turned it into a very basic game show in my head.”

The idea of The Colour of Money was born and the production company then set about developing the show. Over two years later, the tense blockbuster broadcast last Saturday on ITV.

Paul added: “I think sometimes the viewing public don’t understand what goes in to getting a show like this on the air.

“It took about six months before the show was even ready to pitch to the channels, another six months of tweaking before we made a pilot and then another nine months before it went into the studio to be filmed.”

After the show was commissioned, Paul left 12 Yard to join Celador Productions, just before filming started.

He added: “It was incredibly hard to leave without seeing The Colour of Money through to the end.

“It was really difficult, like leaving your kid at the gates on his first day at school. The first time I saw the show was on Saturday night when it went on air.

“I’m really pleased with the finished product, though; it’s fast and exciting, the set and graphics look great and Chris Tarrant is a brilliant host.

“Everyone at 12 Yard and ITV is hoping that it’ll be a massive success – and so am I, because for two years it was the most important thing in my life besides my fiancée, my family and my friends.”